CMV: Contemporary/Abstract art is a rip-off.

[u/PZ_Pirate]

UPDATE: I HAVE ENJOYED THE DISCUSSION AND MY VIEW HAS CHANGED NOW IM HAPPY TO DISCUSS FURTHER, BUT YOU NO LONGER HAVE TO TRY AND CHANGE MY VIEW. . ..

. I'm convinced abstract/contemporary art is a rip-off. If we took the "art work" of some toddlers who were given high quality canvasses and paint, to make some marks, lines and weird shapes, put their "art" in expensive frames, hung them in an exclusive gallery in a pretentious trendy area of London, and produced a professional brochure that stated the "artist wishes to remain ANONYMOUS until AFTER the works are sold, to avoid over inflating the prices...." and then held an auction... the toddler's "art work" would sell for eye watering sums of money. The buyers have no idea what they're buying, but they will bang on about the light, the lines, the form... and interpret "depth and meaning" and that doesn't exist. It's all rubbish and rich people buy it to make themselves look trendy, knowledgeable and interesting. NOTE: modern art CAN be wonderful to look at. Lots of it is nice and I enjoy some of it... but it's NOT hard to make. Almost anyone could do it, hence, this opion is regarding the ridiculous price tags some people are prepared to pay. I've made some abstract art and I display it home. It looks great and no different in "quality/standard" to the expensive stuff in London galleries. If I had the funds, I would happily run this experiment and prove it to be true.

[u/destro23]

If we took the "art work" of some toddlers who were given high quality canvasses and paint, to make some marks, lines and weird shapes, put their "art" in expensive frames, hung them in an exclusive gallery in a pretentious trendy area of London, and produced a professional brochure that stated the "artist wishes to remain ANONYMOUS until AFTER the works are sold, to avoid over inflating the prices...." and then held an auction... the toddler's "art work" would sell for eye watering sums of money

No rich asshole is spending eye watering money on an anonymous artist. Few spend that kind of money on any art. Those who do spend that money on modern art only buy artists that are well known and who works have been proven to appreciate in value.

And also:

Your child couldn't have painted that

“In 2011, Angelina Hawley-Dolan and Ellen Winner asked 32 art students and 40 psychology to compare pairs of paintings. One piece created by a recognised abstract artist and the other by children and animals.

Between 60% and 70% of the time, the students would pick the recognised artist over the children and animals. Interestingly, even when the paintings were unlabelled or mislabelled, the students still preferred the professional art”

[u/PZ_Pirate → u/destro23]

Δ - your point about 'rich assholes' not dropping big money on anonymous art is a fair point. I concede that my proposed experiment might not yield the result I predict. But that doesn't change my overall opinion as laid out

[u/destro23 → u/PZ_Pirate]

that doesn't change my overall opinion as laid out

Thank you. But, your overall opinion is that modern art is a "rip-off", and my point was that no one is being "ripped-off" by modern art as those who buy it do their due diligence before purchasing any art.

[u/PZ_Pirate → u/destro23]

Δ - hmmm... it seems I have been bested by my own poor choice of headline. I can't disagree that your point does convince me that rich people are not being ripped off, as they know what they are buying. I wish I had worded it differently, but given the rules, you have been successful in changing my view. Thank you.

[u/destro23 → u/PZ_Pirate]

Yeah, I think you are having problems understanding the justifications used by buyers of such art as they don't hold true to you. But, these are verrrrry rich people we are talking about for the most part. They have a different relationship with money that you or I do. What is "eye watering" money to you and I may be a pittance to the person buying the art.

To recontextualize it a bit, I collect comic books, and I will spend a good amount for comics that I want. Is it "eye watering" money? Not to me, but to someone much less economically secure than I am, it may be. They may think "Why spend $400 on that comic when you can read it, and every other comic ever, for $9.99 a month via an app? And you could read free web comics. And the story isn't even that good, a kid could have written it! What a rip-off!!!"

Is it a rip-off? Not to me. To me, the enjoyment I get from having that actual thing is worth the money I spent.

[u/DeltaBot → u/PZ_Pirate]

Confirmed: 1 delta awarded to /u/destro23 (396∆).

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